New Testament in a Year

Footnotes

1. Galatians 1:1 Without preliminary, Paul gets right to the point. He distinguishes two problems that his detractors, in order to inflame the conflict, cleverly intermingle: a question of persons and a question of ideas. First of all, Paul furnishes proofs of the authenticity of his apostolate. He specifies that his call comes directly from Christ and the Father. He received his Gospel by an immediate revelation from Christ, began at once to proclaim it without asking for the authorization of any human person, and on coming to Jerusalem interacted on an equal plane with the apostles, who approved his evangelization of the Gentiles. Finally, in the incident at Antioch, he showed his independence of Peter. This first part of the Letter is one of our best sources of information about the history of the newborn Church and the life of Paul.
2. Galatians 1:1 Without taking the time for another introduction, Paul tells us how he sees his apostolate in Christ’s work of salvation. One must read these lines in order to understand what constitutes a mission of the Church. This Letter will be the “Gospel of the Cross.”
   In his address, Paul sets forth his name, his mission as apostle, and the name of those to whom he is writing as well as the central teaching of the Christian faith—the Resurrection of Jesus (see Acts 17:18; Rom 1:4; 1 Cor 15:20; 1 Pet 1:3).
3. Galatians 1:1 Apostle: see note on 1 Cor 1:1-9.
4. Galatians 1:2 Brethren: i.e., fellow Christians (see Gal 3:15; 4:12; 5:11; 6:18). Galatia: probably the Roman province of Galatia and an extended area southward, through which Paul traveled on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:14—14:23).
5. Galatians 1:4 The present evil age: that is, the age in which sin reigns and Jesus Christ has not been accepted.
6. Galatians 1:5 For similar doxologies, see Rom 9:5; 11:36; 16:27; Eph 3:21; 1 Tim 1:17.
7. Galatians 1:6 Paul stresses that there is only one Gospel, one revelation, and one apostolate—all of which he shares with the original apostles. He discussed this apostolate and what it means first at Jerusalem with Peter (Cephas) and James and then at Antioch with Peter.
8. Galatians 1:9 Accursed: “anathema,” a term signifying condemnation.
9. Galatians 1:11 For Paul, everything begins with the event that took place on the road to Damascus. He does not describe it here but expresses its meaning. It was for him the revelation of the risen Lord in all his glory as well as the investiture that established Paul as the prophet of the last times, charged by divine authority to proclaim the mystery of salvation and to introduce the Gentiles into the new world where the Spirit is at work (see Is 49:1; Jer 1:5). This mission is clear; Paul has no need of consulting with “flesh and blood,” i.e., to embrace other human considerations or instructions. His destiny is laid out by the Lord himself.
10. Galatians 1:13 Judaism: i.e., the Jewish faith and way of life that developed during the intertestamental period. The word comes from “Judah,” the name of the southern kingdom that existed from the tenth to the sixth century B.C. and ended with the Babylonian Exile.
11. Galatians 1:16 Flesh and blood: a phrase that in the New Testament always connotes human weakness or ignorance (see Mt 16:17; 1 Cor 15:50; Eph 6:12). Paul’s teaching came not from any human person but directly from God.
12. Galatians 1:18 Paul visited Jerusalem to become acquainted with the head of the apostles (see Acts 9:23-31), whom he calls “Cephas” (Aramaic for “Rock”), the name given to Peter by Jesus himself (see Mt 16:18). He then went to Syria and Cilicia (including his hometown Tarsus) and probably did some evangelizing there. He was known to Christians in Judea only by reputation.
13. Galatians 1:19 James, the brother of the Lord: i.e., the cousin of Jesus, who was head of the Church of Jerusalem after the scattering of the apostles; see Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18.
14. Galatians 1:21 For Paul’s time in Syria (Antioch) and Cilicia (Tarsus) see Acts 9:30; 11:25-26.